Monday, January 11, 2016

FOMO No'Mo

FOMO defined by Urban Dictionary is the "fear of missing out". The fear that if you miss a party or event you will miss out on something great. With the undeniable impact of social media all around us, it is now easier than ever to fall into the FOMO funk. At any given moment I can sign onto my Instagram or Twitter accounts and immediately see a group of friends trying out a new restaurant, and I didn't go because I'm eating at home to save money. I might see two friends leaving a work-out class together, and I missed out because I had to work late. I'll scroll past multiple posts of friends tailgating at a concert, and I couldn't go because I had other plans. The FOMO is real y'all.

An easy fix to the pandemic? No, it's not pulling a Jim Carrey in Yes Man and saying "Yes" to every little thing so you don't miss out. That's stressful and overwhelming. It's turning the tables - making the invited become the inviter. You make the plans that work on your own time. You make the invite list. You initiate the good times to be had by all. To do this, of course, you'll need some help knowing about what's going on in your area. Here are some great sources that I use to help make FOMO no'mo:

Social Media: This one's obvious. Even though it plays into making FOMO more fo'real, it's also the perfect way to find out about what's happening around you. Follow your favorite artists - you'll know when they're coming to town. Follow your favorite stores - maybe a grand opening will be happening in your area sometime soon. Follow your favorite restaurants that you discovered on your last trip - maybe they're planning to open a location closer to you and you'll get to be first in line to try it out. Don't forget to turn on notifications for the accounts you want to follow closely. That way whenever they tweet/insta post you'll know. It's a fail-proof way of staying on top of things with the simple push of a button.

Bandsintown:Bandsintown is an awesome app that scans your music library for your favorite artists then alerts you when a new show of theirs has been announced close to you. It's really THAT easy. Hugely beneficial for any concert junkie, like myself.

Eventbrite: From bridal events to cookie rallies to health conventions, Eventbrite has just about every community event you can think of. All you have to do is set your location and let Eventbrite do the rest. It gives you an option to create your own event to host, as well as sell your own tickets to it. With Eventbrite, there's really no shortage of things to do. I think the hardest part is resisting the urge to fill your calendar up with all of the events that they inform you of.

The Facebook Events Tab: One could argue that this would fall into the social media paragraph, however I think it deserves its own blurb. The "events" tab on your Facebook page is under utilized in my opinion. It shows you events that are happening in your area, as well as ones that you may be interested in based on previously attended events. Creating a Facebook event and using the handy dandy invite button is also an easy way to include your friends in any event you're attending/hosting. My favorite part? You can sync your Facebook event calendar with your iCal and *VOILA* it's all in one place.

Word of Mouth: Traditional, but it works just as well. Friends, family, co workers - there are so many sources you can use. Although we're a very digital-driven world now, you can easily find out about events from actual, yes ACTUAL, people. A friend of mine at work recently told me about an art festival happening near where she lived. A few week's ago another friend told me about her brother's gallery grand opening. Events are everywhere happening always. Don't forget to take your eyes off of your screen every once and a while to find out or ask about them.

What are other ways that you stay informed of events happening in your area?

*This discussion was made in collaboration with Eventbrite. All thoughts and opinions here are my own.